North Carolina, Oklahoma Claim Top Spots in ITA National Team Rankings

North Carolina, Oklahoma Claim Top Spots in ITA National Team Rankings

No. 1 USC men upset by previously No. 51 Tulsa

ITA Division I Men's Rankings | ITA Division I Women's Rankings

SKILLMAN, NJ (March 3) - The North Carolina women held their post atop the ITA National Women's Team Rankings, while the Oklahoma men reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the ITA National Men's Team Rankings after a one-week hiatus.

The Sooners rebounded from their loss to Texas A&M by recording convincing wins over North Carolina and Florida State. Oklahoma's top ranking can also be attributed to No. 51 Tulsa's stunning upset of top-ranked USC. 

After being dominated in the doubles point, Tulsa stormed back to win on four singles courts. No. 71 Or-Ram Harel dealt No. 6 Yannick Hanfmann his first loss since November and the Golden Hurricane won two of three 3rd-set tie-breaks in the bottom three singles matches to secure the upset. The victory vaulted the Golden Hurricane 25 spots up to No. 26 in the latest rankings.

Also on the men's side, Georgia climbed back into the Top 5 at No. 4 with strong conference wins at Florida and Auburn. Dartmouth improved 14 spots to its new ranking of No. 36 after posting two wins in the Great Lakes State over No. 52 Michigan and Michigan State. Also markedly improving their ranking were the San Francisco Dons, who extended their win streak to five by registering three wins to claim the UOP Invitational. The Dons make their 2014-15 debut in the ITA National Team Rankings at No. 50.

In the women's rankings, USC slid to its highest ranking of the year at No. 3 despite not playing during the week. After their first-round loss to Virginia at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship, the Trojans have won six straight matches, including four over teams currently in the Top 20.

Also making noise in the women's rankings were Brigham Young and Washington, the only two teams to improve their position by over 20 spots. Both the Cougars and Huskies moved from outside the Top 60 to inside the Top 40. BYU is up to No. 38 after beating No. 37 New Mexico and Washington did not play during the week, but the Huskies prior wins continue to gain value.

Most notably, the Illinois women took down No. 24 Indiana to re-enter the rankings at No. 37. The Illini were ranked in the forties all season prior to falling out of the rankings last week, but a Top 25 win restored confidence in Champaign.

Conference Count: 

Men's Top 25: ACC and SEC - 5; Big 12 - 4; Pac-12, Big Ten and Ivy - 3; AAC and MVC - 1. 

Women's Top 25: SEC and ACC - 6; Big 12 and Pac-12 - 4; Big Ten - 2; Ivy, WCC and MVC - 1. 

Double-Dip: This week, 14 schools have both their men's and women's programs ranked inside the Top 25.

Top 25 Caliber: Only four teams are new to the Top 25 this week, with just Drake coming in at No. 24 in the men's ranking, a five-spot jump for the Bulldogs. On the women's side, Wichita State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame ascended into spots 23-25, respectively.

Coming Up Next: The ITA Division I National Team Rankings will continue on March 10, along with new ITA Division I National Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles Rankings. Complete ITA College Tennis Rankings can be found by clicking here .

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